Apparatus for displaying and vending postal cards.



B. .S. WALLIGK. APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING AND VENDING POSTAL CARDS.

APPLICATION TILED NOV. 18, 1910.

Patented Jan. 9, 1912.

4 SHEETSSHEBT 1.

wfnesses Invenfok BEN SWALLICK:

COLUMBIA PLANUGRAPII co.. WASHINGTON. u. (i

B. S. WALLICK. APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING AND VENDING POSTAL OARDS.

APPLICATION FILED NQV. 1 .8, 1910.

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as. 7 Inveni'or BEN S.WALLIDK.

B. S. WALLIGK. APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING AND VENDING POSTAL CARDS.

APPLIGATION FILED NOV. 18, 1910.

Patented J an. 9, 1912.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

f /igy B. S. WALLIOK APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING AND VENDANG POSTAL GAB-D8.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18, 1910.

Patented Jan.9,1912.

4 SHBBTS- SHBET 4.

BENS. WALLICK, or SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING AND VENDING POSTAL CARDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 9,1912.

Application filed. November 18, 1910. Serial No. 593,118.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BEN S. WALLIOK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Sangamon and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Apparatus for Displaying and Vending Postal Cards, of which the following is such a full, clear, and exact description. as will enable others skilled in the art to make and use my said invention.

The purposes of the invention are to provide in connection with the apparatus, a magazine to contain a supply of cards, to provide means for propelling the cards into position for the purchaser to view the cards in succession; to provide coin-controlled means adapted to permit the purchaser to extract the cards which he may select; to provide adjustable means adapted to control the feed of variable stocks of cards contained in the magazine; to provide means for separating the cards so that the cards which are being propelled will not overlap each other; to provide means to keep the cards on edge while being propelled; to provide means to return the displayed cards to the magazine and place them behind the other cards which are in the magazine so that no card will be displayed twice before every other card has been displayed once; and to provide other novel features of construction, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

With these ends in view my invention consists in the new and useful features of construction and combinations of parts shown in the annexed drawings, to which reference is hereby made, and hereinafter particularly described and finally recited in the claims.

Similar reference characters designate like parts in the several views.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus, Fig. 2 is a right-hand end elevation, part of the housing being shown as broken away to expose the inclosed parts. Fig. 3 is a top plan of the apparatus, part of the cover being removed. Fig. 4 is an isometric view of one pair of spring-supported guide rollers and Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are enlarged views partly in section of the coin-controlled means for operating the lifter to raise the selected cards.

The housing A is preferably of light sheet metal and has an extension A forming a magazine for the stock of cards.

A series of parallelvertical spools 1, 1

and 1 are mounted to rotate within the housing. The circumference of the spools are covered with chamois leather or other soft material to avoid injury to the cards. Channels a adjacent to the upper and lower ends of the spools extend around the inside of the housing and the cards travel with their upper and lower edges in the channels, I

to prevent displacement of the cards.

Suitably placed brackets 22 secured on the outer wall of the housing, support horizontal springs 22*. The springs 22 support wheels 22, preferably of rubber, or other yielding material, which will not injure the cards. The spindles of the wheels turn in eyes at the outer ends of the springs. The springs are adapted to keep the wheels in contact with the cards running on the spools to cause the spools to propel the cards uniformly. At the front and near the center of the housing is a coin-controlled vertically movable slide 26 adapted to be raised as herein after described, to cause the selected cards to project upward through the slot a in the top of the housing, in position to be extracted by the purchaser.

At the lower end of three spools 1", adj acent to the magazine, are relatively large sprocket wheels 2, all of the same diameter. At the lower ends of the other spools 1 and 1 are other sprocket wheels 2 which are half the diameter of the sprocket wheels 2'. An endless sprocket chain 3 runs on the wheels 2 and 2. Idler sprocket wheels 4: keep the chain 3 in proper contact with the wheels 2 and 2. At the lower end of the spool 1 is a bevel gear wheel 7.

A horizontal shaft 5 mounted to turn in suitable supports on the housing carrier a crank 24, and a bevel gear 6 which meshes with and drives the gear 7 and causes the chain 3 to rotate all the spools in the same direction.

The sprocket wheels 2' being twice the diameter of the sprocket wheels 2 and all the wheels being driven by one chain 3, the spools 1 with which the wheels 2 are connected will rotate at half the surface speed of the spools 1 and 1 with which the wheels 2 are connected. 7

Parallel, vertical, revoluble feed rollers 20 and 20 adjacent to the outlet opening a of the magazine, guide the cards sliding outwardly through the opening. Springs 20 at the ends of the rollers 20 and 20 keep them in yielding contact with the cards passing between the rollers. Usually but one card at a time will pass between the rollers. If two cards should happen to pass between the rollers, the cards will be separated by the separator, so that only one card at a time will pass under the separator and in contact with the spool 1 with which it cooperates. The rollers 20 and 20 rotate in unison with the half-speed spools 1 and propel at half-speed cards coming through the opening a.

The separator comprises an oscillative arm 21 having an inwardly extending member 21 provided with a yielding presser 21 contacting with the surface of one of the spools l A spring 21 pulls on the arm 21 to normally keep the presser 21 in contact with the surface of the spools 1 but yields under excessive pressure to prevent injury to the cards. A horizontal shaft 8 at right angles to the shaft 5 is mounted to rotate in suitable bearings 8 A bevel gear 9 fixed on the shaft 8 meshes with and is driven by the gear 7 on the shaft of the spool 1. A bevel gear 10 is slidable on the shaft 8 and rotates therewith. A spool-supporting carriage 38 is arranged to slide on the shaft 8.

Parallel, vertical rollers l8 and 19 and parallel vertical spools 11 and 12 having their circumferences covered with chamois leather or other soft material, are mounted to rotate on the carriage 38. Gear wheels 13 and 15 at the lower ends of the spools 11 and 12 respectively mesh with an intermediate gear 14 and cooperate therewith to ro- Late both spools in the same direction.

A bevel gear 28 at the lower end of the and is driven by the bevel gear 10 on the shaft 8. A spring 23 (Fig; 2) acts to slide the carriage 38 inward to keep'the spool 12 in contact with the last 1, cardat the back of the stack of cards in the magazine.

- From the foregoing it will be seen that the carriage may be slid inward or outward in the magazine to suit the stock of cards con- I. tained in the magazine; and the spools are arranged and geared so that upon rotating the shaft 5 clock-wise the spools 1 and 1 will be caused to rotate counter-clockwise at full-speed, and the spools 1 will be caused to rotate counter-clockwise at half-speed.

VVhen' the machine is in operation the cards will be propelled in succession into such position that each card may be viewed through the window a lVhen a card is in LLPOSl'DiOIl to be vie'wed'through the window the lower edgefo'fithe'card will occupy the channel 26 in the lifter 26. To withdraw a card of his selection the user will stop the machine when the selected card is on the lifter and will operate the lifter to raise the card.

The construction and operation of the lifter, and the coin-controlled means of prenow be described.

The lifter 26 is a horizontal bar adjacent to the lower ends of the spools 1 and has a 0 lengthwise channel 26" in line with the channels a, forwardly extending lugs 26 having vertical holes 26; and a downwardly extending central block 26 Stationary vertical rods 27 fit loosely in the holes 26 and the rods guide vertical movement of the lifter. When the lifter 26 is slid upward as hereinafter described, the card carried on the lifter will be caused to project upward through the slot a from which it may be withdrawn by hand. The lifter 26 is connected to be operated by a lever 30 and the operating parts are so constructed and arranged that a coin must be deposited in a slot 31, provided for the purpose, before the lever 30 can become effective to operate the lifter. A forwardly extending horizontal, cylindrical, boss (Fig. 6) 29 is secured on the housing A. The lever 30 has a cylindrical hub 30 adapted to turn on the boss 29; and a lengthwise slot 30 adapted to accommodate a roller traveling in the slot. A- rod 31 connected with the block 26 has a fixed collar 31 and has at its lower end a roller 31 adapted to travel in the slot 30*. The rod 31 slides in a stationary guide 32. A spring 33 surrounds the rod 31 between the guide 32 and the collar 31. Then power is applied to cause the lever 30 to turn upward the upward turning of the lever will cause upward sliding of the lifter 26 and compression of the spring 33; and when the power is discontinued the spring will act to cause the parts to resume their initial positions. A second lever 31 has an elongated hub 34 adapted to turn on the hub 30 of the lever 30; and a downwardly extending member 34" in the plane of the lever 30. A spring 35 between the member 34 and the lever 30 serves to keep the lever 34 normally in a vertical position. The lever 34 is adapted for limited oscillation on the hub 30*, the scope of the oscillation being limited to the distance between the lever 30 and the member 31 The hub 31 of the lever 34, has a slot 3 1 adapted to permit a coin to pass through the slot. The hub. 30 of the lever 30, has a recess 30 the slot 34 and adaptedto contain a cfiin on edge and also adapted to permit the coin to slide in the recess in the direction of the thickness of the coin. The hub 30 also has a way 30 communicating with the recess 30 and adapted to permit the coin to travel freely through the way to a suitable box 40, provided to contain the deposited coins. A latch 36 is mounted to oscillate on a pin 36 on the hub 30 The latch 36 has at one end a member 36 extending into the recess 30 in position to be engaged by the coin X sliding in the recess and has at the other end a finger 36 entering a notch 29 in the boss 29. A spring 37 acts on the latch 36 to normally keep the finger 36 in the notch 29* so that the hub 3O can not turn on the boss while the finger 36 is in the notch 29*; but when the finger is withdrawn from the notch the hub will be free to turn on the boss. The coin X sliding in the recess 30 acts on the member 36 to turn the latch 36 on its pivot 36 and thereby cause the withdrawal of the finger 36 from the notch 29 to release the hub 30 from the boss 29 and permit rotation of the hub on the boss.

In using the coin-controlled means for operating the lifter, the coin X will be inserted through the slot 34 and pushed downward into the recess 30. The lever 34 will be pushed to the right to cause limited rotation of the hub 34 on the hub 30*, and this limited rotation of the hub 34 will cause the lug 34 to slide the coin X in the chamber 30 and cause the coin to act on the member 36 to, move the latch 36 to withdraw the finger 36 from the notch 29*, and further movement of the lever 34 to the right will cause the member 34 to act on the lever 30 through the instrumentality of the spring 35 and thereby turn the lever 30 upward to cause upward sliding of the lifter 26 to cause the card then on the lifter to project upward through the slot a in the top of the housing in position for the removal of the card; and when the pressure on the lever 34' is withdrawn the spring 33 will act to restore the lever 30 to its initial position; the spring 35 will act to restore the lever 34 to its initial position, and the spring 37 will act on the latch 36 to cause the finger 36 to again enter the notch 29 and lock the hub 3O on the boss 29 in position for the next operation. And this will be repeated each time that it is desired to withdraw a card.

I do not restrict my claims to the precisecoin-controlled means herein set forth for operating the lifter. Any other suitable coin-controlled means may be used without departure from my invention.

A vertical guard plate 39 is mounted on the carriage 38 adjacent to the rollers 18 and 19 and serves to cause the cards running from the spool 1 to run on the rollers 18 and 19 and thence between the roller 18 and the spool 11. A vertical guide plate or deflector 25, deflects inward the cards running from the roller 18 and causes each card in succession to run next to the circumference of the spool 12 and at the back of the stock of cards Y then occupying the magazine.

By reason of the described disposition of the cards it is obvious that every card of the stock contained in the magazine must be displayed once before any card can be displayed twice.

The mode of operation is as follows;

Upon turning the crank 24 the chain 3 running on the sprocket wheels 2 will cause the spools 1 to propel cards at half-speed from the magazine in succession through the outlet opening a and between the rollers 20 and 20; and the same chain running on the sprocket wheels 2 will rotate the spools 1 at full-speed to propel the cards in succession at full-speed toward and beyond the window a As the cards appear in succession through the window a or View opening the operator will stop the machine each time that a card which he wants comes in view, will place a coin in the slot 34 and will, operate the lever 34 as already described, to permit the withdrawal of the card which he has selected, and will then again turn the crank to bring to view another card which he wants and which may be withdrawn in like manner; and so on for each card that he desires to buy. The cards which have passed the view opening are propelled by the spools 1 and 1 to the right and cross the end of the machine and into position to be propelled by the roller 18 and the spool 11. The spool 1*, the rollers 19 and 18 and the spools 11 and 12 are in such relation to each other that the spool .11 and the roller .18 will engage the leading end of each card before the tail end of the card leaves the spool 1 and the rollers 19 and 18 and the spools 11 and 12 will propel each card inward next to the spool 12 and back of the cards previously in. or entering;

the magazine.

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is;

1. The combination of a magazine adapted to contain a stock of cards on edge with the face of one card contacting with the back of the adjacent card, vertical rotative propellers adapted to propel the cards on edge in succession in a horizontal circuit from the front to the back of the stock of cards, means for actuating the propellers, and means for placing on edge at the back of the stock of cards, the cards previously propelled in succession from the front of the stock of cards.

2. The combination of a magazine adapted to contain a stock of cards on edge with the face of one card contacting with the back of the adjacent card, rotative vertical propellers propelling cards successively on edge in a horizontal circuit outwardly from the magazine and back to the magazine, and means for separating the cards propelled outwardly from the magazine.

3. The combination of a magazine adapted to contain a stock of cards on edge, vertical rotative propellers adapted to propel cards on edge in succession in a horizontal circuit from and to the magazine, means for actuating the propellers, and

spring-pressed means for keeping each card in succession in contact with said propellers.

4. The combination of a magazine adapted to contain a stock of cards, halfspeed rotat-ive propellers adapted to extract cards from the magazine, means for actuating the half-speed propellers, full-speed rotative propellers adapted to propel cards away from the magazine and also adapted to propel them back to the magazine, and means for actuating said full-speed propellers.

5. The combination of a magazine adapted to contain a stock of cards on edge, a spring-actuated carriage within the magazine and automatically adjustable with respect to the stock of cards in the magazine, rotative card propellers mounted on the carriage, and means for actuating said card propellers.

6. The combination of a housing having in its top a discharge slot, propellers adapted to propel cards on edge within the housing, a lifter in the vertical plane of the discharge slot and in the path of the cards propelled on edge and adapted to accommodate a selected card on edge and means for raising the lifter to project the selected car, through the discharge slot.

7. The combination of a housing, a series of rotative vertical spools adapted to propel cards in succession on edge within the housing, means for keeping the successive cards in contact with the spools, sprocket wheels connected with the spools respectively, and a single sprocket chain actuating all the sprockets wheels.

8. The combination of a adapted to contain cards, main means adapted to propel cards away from and back to the magazine, a carriage slidable toward or away from the cards in the magazine, complemental card-propellers mounted on said carriage, revoluble rollers intermediate of the main card-propellers and the complemental card-propellers, and means for guarding cards running on said rollers between the main propellers and the complemental propellers.

9. The combination with a housing, of a series of vertical spools mounted to rotate within the housing, sprocket wheels connected with the spools respectively, a sprocket chain running on all of said wheels, and a revoluble main shaft geared to rotate one spool to actuate the sprocket chain to rotate all the other spools.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name at Springfield, Illinois this 9 day of September 1910.

BEN S. WALLICK.

magazine Witnesses:

M. EVELYN THAIN, W. S. TROXILL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C.

propelling Corrections in Letters Patent No.1 ,01 3,976.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,013,976, grant-ed January 9, 1912, upon the application of Ben S. Wallick, of Springfield, Illinois, for an improvement in Apparatus for Displaying and Vending Postal Cards, errors appear in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 3, line 89,

for the Word cross read across; page 1, line 28', for the Word car read card,

and same page, line 55, before the word Wheels insert the Word sprocket; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofiice.

Signed and sealed this 5th day of March, A. D., 1912.

[SEAL] C. C. BILLINGS,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

